Referenda

The political capital of asking for what you will not get…

Andy Boal on March 22, 2017, 8:59 am

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Brexit has led to increasing demands for IndyRef2 and an NI border poll, and on principle, the British Government has not exactly been slow to rule them out. Nicola Sturgeon is making the case that Brexit is changing the opinion of a large number of people in Scotland [A major change of circumstances? – Ed] and Sinn Fein have made a similar case. However, all of this is apparently for nothing, because James Brokenshire has to be persuaded that the …

“Would you favour a united Ireland?”

Pete Baker on March 22, 2016, 4:09 pm

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With Sinn Féin trying, again, to drum up interest in the report they commissioned of an ‘independent’ modelling of the benefits of an economically right-wing united Ireland, TheJournal.ie reports on the responses of the RTÉ Claire Byrne Live / Amarách Research Panel to the question, “Would you favour a united Ireland?”. From TheJournal.ie report The question was posed “Would you favour a united Ireland?” The question was asked in the run-up to this weekend’s Easter Rising celebrations. In total, 54% said Yes, 24% said No and …

#uniref: what are mechanics of a border poll?

John Ó Néill on September 29, 2014, 11:54 am

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In today’s Belfast Telegraph, Liam Clarke is reporting on an opinion poll that says that a majority of people want a referendum on a border called. David has already sketched out some ideas of what a Yes campaign might look like, but what are the actual mechanics of holding such a referendum? The calling of a referendum is described in Annex A of the Belfast Agreement text (usually called the Good Friday Agreement). In reality, the Belfast Agreement is two …

Do the govt need a No vote in #euref…

John Ó Néill on May 30, 2012, 1:06 am

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..and, to provide similar political cover, does the No side need a Yes vote? The only thing that is clear from the lead-up to the referendum on Thursday is that neither the changing political and economic context of the Austerity/Stabilitytreaty nor it’s relatively bland content has really generated much energy, despite the ramifications of ratification. The value of referenda has been disputed on here before. Indeed, Minister of State Leo Varadkar suggested that referenda were not democratic at the start of the campaign, as he: …